Social Media

Internet Gives Harassed Bus Monitor a $500,000 Vacation [UPDATED]

Karen Klein, the bus monitor who was verbally abused in Greece, N.Y. by the group of 12- to 15-year-olds she was supervising, is about to go on one heck of a great vacation.

An Indiegogo fundraiser in her name has pulled in more than $500,000 to send her on her way. (The amount continues to rise; we'll update the numbers as it does.)

The fundraiser was started by Reddit user Max Sidorov of Toronto, Canada. When Sidorov heard about Klein's salary — $15,506, according to a district website — he decided she did not make enough money to have to put up with that type of harassment.

The original fundraising goal was $5,000 — which was beaten in under five hours.

"I thought we would raise a few thousand, max." Sidorov told Mashable. "But this... this could hit double her yearly wage."

It did.

"As soon as I heard of Karen Huff Klein ... I had to create a fundraiser here for this nice lady," Sidorov writes in his profile. "Let's give Karen a vacation of a lifetime, let's show her the power of the internets and how kind and generous people can be."

The reasoning behind the fundraiser was personal, in way. "I've had experience with bullying from school." Sidorov told Mashable. "I know how bad it can feel."

In a recent announcement posted to the Indiegogo page, Sidorov wrote: "Just spoke with Amanda, Karen’s daughter, and the vacation plans are being contemplated! I will have word very soon! Just so everyone knows, everything above and beyond the cost of the vacation will go directly to her!"

Due to the PayPal account linked to a business name of Sidorov's, Marion Adiante, there has been debate over the legitimacy of the fundraiser. For now, Sidorov has removed PayPal as a payment option.

"People are still accusing me of taking the money to run with," Sidorov told Mashable. "So until I get Karen's PayPal, its just Indiegogo's payment system for now."

There are, however, still people with questions. "Again, I dont want a dime of Karen’s money." Sidorov told the Indiegogo page. "Everything is going to her. I'm already out in the open. Pretty much the whole world knows who I am by now."

On June 21, Indiegogo released a statement. "Everyone at Indiegogo was so proud this morning to see Karen Klein on television talking so bravely about her experience," they wrote. "We hope that this Indiegogo campaign contributes positively to the important national discussion about bullying."

Should more workplace harassment be documented this way? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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